By your side, always
by Aurorawhisperwind
Summary: Rukia fears that she just may lose Ichigo now. One-shot, IchiRuki. WARNING: SPOILERS


**Aurora whisperwind:** I seem to be on a roll, IchiRuki wise.. Yay! Spoilers upto the latest chapters in the manga, so be warned! Written for the contest held by the Writers FC at Bleach Asylum.

_Dedicated to all the members of the Writer's FC. You guys inspired me so much. Thank you._

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The world stopped spinning for Rukia when she felt his reiatsu drop alarmingly. For a moment, she forgot to breathe and stood rooted to the ground as terror overwhelmed all other thoughts. The sneer of her current opponent brought her back to her senses in a snap, and the cool delicacy of ice was the last thing he saw before Rukia killed him.

There was no time to waste any more. Her heart was beating wildly as she raced towards the dome, her mind and thoughts set on a single person.

_I'm coming, Ichigo._

The Espada's eyes widened a little, just a little, as she blocked the blade that was rushing towards the unconscious orange-haired boy. The force of his thrust had almost thrown her off her feet, and she felt herself shiver involuntarily as she realised just how powerful Ulquiorra was.

She braced herself for another attack, but it never came. His cold green eyes had betrayed only a slight hint of curiosity as he asked her in a low voice "Why are you here?" She did not answer. "Rukia.. " Ichigo murmured, and she whirled around to face him, overwhelmed with relief at the sound of his voice. He was heavily injured and bleeding as he staggered towards her slowly "It's dangerous.. Rukia.. Stay away" His brown eyes were wide with fear, an expression she had never seen before. That was enough to make up her mind.

Turning away, she looked up defiantly at Ulquiorra as she declared "I came to defeat you"

He raised an eyebrow. "Curious" he replied, "For I have no intention of fighting you at all"

Her eyes narrowed briefly "You have no choice but to"

"Hmmm" he mumbled, as he avoided her attack and countered with his own, almost lazily. Rukia realised he was merely toying with her, but she still could not keep up. "I find it extremely foolish" the Espada drawled, as he easily cut her in the right leg, "that you would fight someone so above your current level willingly... all for this man" Hissing with pain, she bounded away from him, but met him head on as he swooped in again "Why is he so important to you?" Her lips tightened as she struggled to push him back. He sighed "You give me no answers"

Before she could react, he had plunged his hand into her shoulder. The blinding pain had overpowered her, and her vision had blurred when she heard Ichigo cry out her name, his voice quivering with terror. With desperate energy, she tore herself away from Ulquiorra's grasp, barely missing Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho. Ulquiorra avoided it easily enough with his Shun'po, and she watched horrified as he prepared to plunge his blade into Ichigo.

Mustering every ounce of her strength, she released Hakuren to block his way, burying Ichigo underneath her ice. Holding Shirayuki in her right hand, her left one gripping her injured shoulder, she met the Espada's emotionless gaze as he turned towards her. "He is..." she began, as she prepared to attack "the most precious person in the world to me"

"I will not let you hurt him any more"

Ulquiorra looked into her eyes searchingly before he turned away "then I am no longer interested in fighting you" She fell to her knees as he vanished, her breath coming in short, laboured gasps. The ice around them disintegrated into multitudes of crystals as she slowly sheathed Shirayuki and turned to face the heavily injured boy who was leaning against his own Zanpakutou, his knuckles white with exertion. Rukia stumbled towards him in a daze, almost falling when he reached out and grabbed her hand, drawing her closer. He was breathing heavily too- Rukia noticed how exhausted and bloody he looked, but he still manged to hold her hand in a vice-like grip. It was the tortured expression in his eyes that had pained her though, and when he suddenly threw his arms around her waist and pulled her to him, she could barely stop herself from sobbing.

_They were so close to losing each other._

"Rukia" he cried, brokenly, in a tone she had never heard from him. His arms tightened around her till she could barely breathe, but she didn't care as she clung to him desperately, never wanting to let go. She threaded her fingers through his hair, wiping away the blood that was dripping still, comforting and being comforted. "Don't put yourself in danger like that again" he whispered after a while, as their breathing evened out "Not again.. I was going to lose you"

Those words broke her trance. "What do you mean by that? What did you expect me to do? Stand there and watch you die?" she pulled away from him forcefully and stood up, staggering a little. His expression was anguished as he grabbed her arms, preventing her from withdrawing any farther. "You could have died" he choked out "What would I have done without you by my side?" She gazed at him for a moment and whispered, "You could have died as well"

And suddenly she was crying harder than ever, hitting out at him in blind fury. His eyes widened in surprise as she screamed "WHAT WOULD I HAVE DONE THEN? YOU IDIOT!" She grabbed his collar and pulled him up "MY BLADE IS DRAWN FOR YOU!" she shouted, the tears blurring her vision. "MY FEET FOLLOW YOU, WHEREVER YOU GO!" she gasped out as she crumpled into his arms "My place is by your side, always"

_And my heart is yours, as yours is mine._

Startled, he held her as she burst into torrents of tears, drenching his bloody haori. His hands had gently stroked her hair and he whispered softly as her sobs subsided "I know" Slowly, he pulled away slightly from her and tipped her head back to look into her eyes. "I know" he repeated, wiping away a tear, cupping her wet cheek with a bruised hand. She sighed deeply, and slowly, hesitatingly, pressed her lips to his. He kissed back deeply, and she lost all count of time until he broke away to breathe.

"Thank you" he sighed, kissing her again briefly "for everything" She smiled at him slightly, and pulled back enough to concentrate her healing energy on him. The battle had not ended. But right now, she felt no fear, no distress, no worries. He would live, and that gave her enough courage to face a hundred Aizens.

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A/N: Much as I love Rukia, I hardly think she'll last against Ulquiorra.. as to why he left, he doesn't seem as the type to fight unneccesarily, so indulge me a little. Do read and review! Feedback is much appreciated.


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